Grains and Health: Misinformation and Misconceptions DB Sheats and JM Jones, St
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Grains and Health: Misinformation and Misconceptions DB Sheats and JM Jones, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN, USA ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Topic Highlights food addiction, and impaired brain function. Popular press books such as Wheat Belly by William Davis, the Paleo Diet by • Claims suggest that wheat is the product of genetic research Loren Cordain, and Grain Brain by David Perlmutter and other and that we are eating genetically altered wheat. In reality, authors and food bloggers claim that eliminating grains is the genetically modified wheat is not sold legally anywhere in key solution to improving health. A review of nutrition and the world. medical literature suggests a different scenario. This article pro- • Claims suggest that wheat and its gluten have changed and vides a review of the scientific evidence regarding grains and that is why celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder, is on health to dispel misinformation and misconceptions. This the rise. While celiac disease rates are increasing, and theo- piece will focus on wheat because it has been subject to the ries abound, no one is uncertain as to why. most misinformation. • Claims suggest that wheat is addictive. There are no data to support claims that removing wheat from the diet results in withdrawal symptoms. Wheat Breeding and Genetics • Claims suggest that wheat causes uncontrollable overeat- ing. Existing data show that ingestion of wheat protein causes the release of satiety hormones. Wheat originated in the Middle East thousands of years ago. • Claims suggest that wheat ingestion leads to a host of According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), mental health issues. There are scanty scientific data to wheat is grown on more land area than any other commercial support these claims. crop and continues to be the most important food grain source • Claims suggest that wheat causes obesity and diets that for humans. Together, rice, wheat, and corn provide over half eliminate wheat and other carbohydrates are the most effec- of the world’s calories. tive way to lose weight. In reality, any significant weight loss Popular press authors and food bloggers suggest that wheat that occurs with these diets is due to the reduction in total is the product of genetic research, and today, we are eating calories from any source, not just wheat or carbohydrates. genetically altered wheat. They contend that wheat and its • Claims suggest that the elimination of wheat from the diet gluten have changed and our bodies can no longer digest the results in the cure or improvement of many health condi- modified grains of today, and that is why people are having so tions. In reality, many of these conditions are made better much difficulty digesting wheat and why celiac disease, an by weight loss and not specifically the elimination of wheat. autoimmune disorder, is on the rise. • Claims suggest that the nutrient contribution of wheat and It is alleged that modern wheat has changed to be less grains can easily be obtained from other food groups. While it healthy because of breeding practices. In fact, wheat breeding is true that these nutrients are found in other foods, studies is an age-old practice. Significant advances in plant breeding on nutritional quality indicate that diets without whole and occurred in the 1940s with the work of Norman Borlaug and enriched grains are often lacking in these nutrients. others, using traditional techniques (non-genetically modified • Food and nutrition professionals need to be able to counter organisms). Lines selected provide increased yield through unfounded theories about wheat and other grains with disease, drought, and insect resistance, especially in developing sound science and unbiased, critical thinking. countries. Despite assertions to the contrary, these lines were produced by crossing wheat varieties with other wheat varieties from all over the globe. In 1970, Dr Borlaug with his so-called green revolution won the Nobel Peace Prize for his wheat and Learning Objectives grain breeding programs, which produced grains with high yields that grow under a wide variety of conditions and help • To identify current controversies surrounding wheat, grains, address world food supply challenges. and health. It is also alleged that genetic modification of wheat has • To describe scientific evidence regarding wheat, grains, and made it less healthy and has changed the gluten proteins. health. This is untrue for two reasons. First, no ill effects can come • To understand the important role that food and nutrition from genetically modified wheat because there is none sold professionals play in dispelling common misinformation legally anywhere in the world. Second, recent studies from and misconceptions about wheat and grains. USDA labs and labs at the University of Saskatchewan and studies in Europe using grains from seed banks going back as far as Canadian Red Fife in 1857 show wheat gluten has not Introduction changed. Concern has been raised about the use of hybrid dwarf Recently, grain consumption, especially wheat, has been wheats. They now comprise 99% of the wheat grown world- blamed for obesity, diabetes mellitus, other chronic diseases, wide. Short-straw naked (dwarf) wheats are one of the Encyclopedia of Food Grains http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394437-5.00078-4 1 2 FOOD GRAINS AND THE CONSUMER | Grains and Health: Misinformation and Misconceptions advances that were part of the green revolution. They increased authors suggest that high-molecular-weight (HMW) glutenins yield for two reasons: (1) wheat varieties with long, spindly and higher levels of gliadin of modern wheat are the problem. straws lodge, meaning that the kernel head is heavy and falls to While studies show that the immune system reacts to break- the ground, making harvest difficult, and (2) shorter straw down products of HMW glutenins, data are lacking that show means that inputs, for example, water and nutrients, go into that these proteins trigger more reactions than those of ancient making wheat kernels rather than straw. wheats or even wheat varieties from 50 years ago. Interestingly, Popular press authors imply that new wheat varieties and gliadins are found in higher amounts in ancient versus modern their proteins are unique or harmful in some way. Further, they wheats. posit that 5% of the proteins in wheats are unique, meaning Gluten-containing grains are also implicated in non-celiac they are found in neither parent, and that this unexpected gluten sensitivity (NCGS). This newly recognized disorder has genetic rearrangement results in altered proteins with poten- no medically agreed-upon test to confirm a diagnosis, and tially toxic effects. It is important to consider that plants can therefore, its existence and incidence are subject to much only express proteins that they have the genetic code to pro- debate. The best estimates are that 4–6% of the population duce. Creating a unique protein requires a mutation of the may have NCGS. NCGS is thought to be present in about 5% DNA or RNA. While environmental conditions can promote of irritable bowel syndrome cases and may cause the rash, or inhibit the expression of certain proteins, it cannot code for dermatitis herpetiformis, which can be seen in some celiac proteins that are not in the genome. Therefore, hybridization patients. of wheat does not create unique proteins. Ancient wheats such as einkorn are held as models of what we should eat because they have not been hybridized and Allergens because of their protein makeup. In fact, one author says that einkorn contains 28% protein compared with average protein Wheat has long been categorized as one of the ‘big eight’ contents of 12–15% in modern wheats and that ancient wheats allergens (the most common allergens in Western countries). did not cause the symptoms that new varieties do. However, Despite beliefs that the incidence is much higher, only 0.5% of studies carried out at the University of Saskatchewan where children and adults in the United States suffer from wheat ancient and other varieties of wheat were grown on adjacent allergy, which can be caused by any number of proteins in plots actually show that the crude protein content of einkorn is wheat. Glutenins are the most frequent allergens, but gliadins, 18% and that of other ancient and modern varieties had pro- especially gamma-gliadin, result in the most severe allergic tein values ranging from 16.3% to 17.5%. This fits well with reactions. A particular protein, omega-5 gliadin, is responsible the USDA World Wheat Collection, which shows approxi- for wheat-dependent, exercise-induced anaphylaxis and may mately a threefold variation in protein content of wheat from be the offending protein in the wheat allergies of young chil- 7% to 22%, with one-third of this under genetic control and dren. There are also reported allergies to albumins, globulins, two-thirds of this controlled by environmental conditions. and enzyme inhibitors. Interestingly, delayed introduction of solid foods including grains such as wheat and rye has been found to be responsible for greater allergic sensitization in Celiac and Related Disorders young children. Celiac disease is on the rise, as are other autoimmune diseases, in Western countries. This fact is documented in the scientific Addiction and Overconsumption of Food literature. Studies by Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Joe Murray and colleagues compared celiac titers in blood samples Popular press authors and bloggers suggest that wheat is the from the recent US Air Force recruits with stored blood world’s most destructive dietary ingredient because during its samples taken from recruits more than 50 years ago. The digestion, it breaks down into peptides that act as exorphins analysis showed 0.2% of recruits had the gene for celiac disease (exogenous opioids). These authors assert that wheat is unique in 1950 compared with 0.9% of recent recruits, which is a in this role.